White House Historical Association

Pierre Vermeren

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"Pierre Vermeren," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/323.
Positions
Butler
Steward
Years in President's House
1859 – 1861
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
White
Presidencies
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Biography
Pierre Vermeren was born in Belgium around 1830.1 Little is known about his early life; however, his death certificate notes that he immigrated to the United States in the 1850s.2 In 1860, he was listed on the census as a member of President James Buchanan’s White House, where he worked as a butler.3 In the fall of 1861, Pierre left President Abraham Lincoln’s White House. First Lady Mary Lincoln wrote a letter of recommendation for “Peter Vermin,” a staff member from the White House, to Brigadier General George Sykes on December 5, 1861, asking for any kindness General Sykes could extend to him.4 In 1862, a “Peter Vermeren” was listed at working at the Washington House Hotel in D.C.5 The 1870 Census also reported a “Peter Vermeren”, who like Pierre Vermeren was born in the 1830s in Belgium and reported his occupation as “Keeps Restaurants.”6 By 1880, “Peter” was recorded in the census as a bookkeeper, still residing in Washington, D.C.7 Pierre Vermeren died on July 22, 1883, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Washington, D.C.8
  1. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10475090:7667?tid=&pid=&queryId=f50037a6ec46011e66f75126a752664b&_phsrc=KGX228&_phstart=successSource.
  2. Peter Vermeren in Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., Death Certificates, 1874-1931,” District of Columbia Public Library; Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C. Deaths, 1874-1945, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62876/records/274746.
  3. 1860 United States Federal Census. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10475090:7667?tid=&pid=&queryId=f50037a6ec46011e66f75126a752664b&_phsrc=KGX228&_phstart=successSource.
  4. Mary Todd Lincoln to Brigadier General George Sykes, Washington, December 15, 1861, Justin George Turner and Linda Levitt Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1972), 118.
  5. Washington, District of Columbia, City Directory, 1862, Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1035010313:2469?_phcmd=u('https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Peter_Vermereu&event=_Washington-District+of+Columbia-USA&successSource=Search&queryId=022a05bfe3226aff62dc404d55021cc8','successSource')
  6. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Peter_Vermereu&event=1860_Washington-District+of+Columbia-USA&count=50
  7. 1880 United States Federal Census, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, Peter Vermeren, age 50, born c. 1830 in Belgium; digital image, Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/records/35445001.
  8. Washington, District of Columbia, U.S., Death Certificates, 1874–1931, Peter Vermeren, died July 22, 1883, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62876/records/274746; Graceland Cemetery was a historically Black burial ground established around 1884–85 following the relocation of an earlier cemetery. In 1894, Graceland was relocated to Woodlawn Cemetery due to public health concerns that the site was contaminating the local water supply.
Birthplace
Belgium
Graceland Cemetery
Related Worker
Peter
Kitchen, Dining Room, Pantry, and Storeroom, circa 1853 – 1857
Related Association Content
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/press-room/press-backgrounders/slavery-and-the-white-house